Rascal Flatts ready for launch of 10th anniversary tour

From left, Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar), Gary LeVox and Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar) of Rascal Flatts perform for the sold-out crowd at the 2010 CMA Music Festival at LP Field on Saturday, June 12. (Photo: Shelley Mays/The Tennessean)

Rascal Flatts plans to kick-off their 10-year anniversary tour Nothing Like This in about 10 days and members said this time the plan was easy — play a lot of music.

“We always try to outdo what we’ve done before and it gets harder every year,” said bass player Jay DeMarcus, before the band took stage for Saturday night's LP Field show for the CMA Music Festival. “It’s very difficult to figure out how to take it to the next level. This year we tried to make it really, really simple and just do as much music as we can.”

The band wants to take fans on a musical journey that spans their last decade of country radio hits. Flatts is going to start with their first single “Prayin’ for Daylight” and work their way through to present day songs like “Here Comes Goodbye” and “Unstoppable.”

“It’s going to be four hours and 40 minutes when we’re done, and Gary’s not going to be able to breathe by the time we get to the last song,” DeMarcus joked, referring to lead singer Gary LeVox. “But we’re really looking forward to it because it’s going to be a lot of music and very little talking, and we’re going to try and get to as many of their favorites as we can.”

Chris Young and Kellie Pickler will open the tour, which kicks off June 25 in Raleigh, N.C., and wraps Sept. 19 at Boston’s Comcast Center. There is no Nashville date scheduled. The closest stops include Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta on June 27, Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Aug. 6 and Kentucky State Fair in Louisville on Aug. 29.